Summary.Two groups of teeth, one of which contained teeth of known age, were examined by scanning electron microscopy to ascertain the presence of a potential pathway for leakage at the root ends of apicected teeth. At a point approximately 3 mm from the apex, a level chosen as being typical for apicectomy, and half‐way between the root canal and the dentine‐cementum junction, there were found to be, on average, 27,000 tubules per mm2. Older teeth also displayed large numbers of tubules. Close to the dentine‐cementum junction, an area which may communicate with the root canal even in the presence of a retrograde root filling, an average of 13,000 tubules per mm2were
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